


Henry and the Ink Machine

by HershelChocolate



Category: Bendy and the Ink Machine
Genre: Gen, Henry and joey actually being good parents to their two children au, bendy and the ink machine - Freeform, bendy and the ink machine au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-21
Updated: 2017-03-21
Packaged: 2018-10-09 01:32:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10400745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HershelChocolate/pseuds/HershelChocolate
Summary: A little drabble based off art and AU by tumblr user @brightgoat! An AU where Joey makes Bendy and Boris while Henry is still working in the studio! (Well, at least the first half of the first chapter is I have no idea where I was going with this haha)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I mostly wrote this cause there was like. Nothing in the BatIM tag haha. I don't write a whole lot anymore so just um. Be warned! And enjoy!

"Henry. Henry. Hey Henry. Hey. _Hey!_ "

"Joey I'm trying to work. What do you want?"

"Come here for a second, I have to show you something! "

"...Can't it wait? I have to finish this for the next episode..."

"Come on!!!"

" _Fine..._ "

Joey grabbed his hand and dragged him down the halway, excitedly muttering to himself. They stopped in front of an old door, which Joey hastily threw open. 

"The basement? Joey, no one goes down there anymore. What did you do?"

"Just come on! You'll see, it's great"

Sighing, Henry reluctantly followed him down the old stairs. No one ever went into the basement for anything, and it's not like there was anything interesting down there to begin with. As he entered the biggest room in the basement however, he quickly saw he was wrong.

"Joey..."

"Yes Henry?"

"You drug me down here to show me a poorly drawn pentagram and a Bendy doll?"

"Not just any Bendy doll! This one is... _Special_ "

"Joey...Joey, it's only three feet tall. Sure it's bigger than the others, but that's it?"

"HEY! Don't be rude, mister!"

Henry jumped at the sudden new voice, and stared wide-eyed at the "doll", that just stomped over to where he and Joey were standing. It folded it's arms, and frowned. Henry looked over at Joey incredulously, hoping for an explanation.

Unable to contain his excitement, Joey gestured dramatically at the small demon standing before them.

"I used a Satanic Ritual to bring our cartoon character to life! Isn't that great?!"

"... _What..._ "

Joey picked up Bendy, cuddling him like a teddy bear. "He is our son."

"Joey I seriously think you should get some sleep"

Bendy stuck out his tongue, and Joey rolled his eyes. 

"Hey mister, don' be so rude!"

"That's right Bendy, you tell him!"

"Why are you taking it's side?!"

"I will have you know Henry, that Bendy is made out of only the finest ink, and the most symmetrical pentagram-necromany. You can refer to him by his name, thank you very much!"

Henry sighed, and rubbed his forehead. Joey was always diving into things before he fully understood what he was getting into. This was probably going to be no different. 

"Alright well...Made out of ink, you said? Well can it-"

"HE, Henry. He is our _son_ "

"Alright, alright fine. I'm not calling him our son but...can he feel at all?"

"Oh yeah!"

"Wait...really?!"

"Yup! He's like a walking talking real version of the actual Bendy! I did have to run a few... _tests_...to make sure...!"

"Okay, skipping past how horrible that sounded...how did you um...find out you could...?"

Henry felt something tug at his pant leg and jumped back when he saw Bendy. Something about him still felt...off.

"Why're you guys talkin' about me like I'm not here? Stop bein' rude! Dad, you promised you'd let me out of the basement when you brought Dad 2 here!"

Joey grinned sheepishly at Henry who only shook his head.

"You made him refer to us as _Dad and Dad 2???"_

"Weeell..."

"Yeah okay, I've seen enough. This is you're mess, you're dealing with it. And er...Bendy...just call me Henry, okay?"

Bendy nodded and ran towards the stairs before Joey could grab him. He hopped up the stairs, and ran out into the hall outside.

Henry turned to leave as well, but Joey's hand stopped him. 

"Hey, wait, there's one more thing-"

"Joey. _please_ tell me you didn't make more."

"Ha, well er, about that...You see I maaay have..."

Joey sighed, and simply waved his hand. A tall figure eagerly stepped out of the shadows, and Henry once again stepped back in shock.

"You didn't..."

"Hey! Bendy needed a friend!"

Standing before Henry was the unmistakable form of another character from their cartoon, Boris. But unlike Bendy, he didn't seem to be lacking any height.

"Joey that thing is huge! It could literally _kill someone."_

"Oh Henry, don't worry! Boris isn't the one that does the killing."

"Please never say something that ominous and frightening to me ever again."

\----- 

Henry squinted as they walked back into the bright light of the main rooms in the studio. Black ink marks on the floor and walls showed exactly where Bendy went once he left. 

Joey made to go after the little demon, but Henry stopped him. 

"...Joey...Joey I...what are we going to do...? We can't just tell the crew that we-no, YOU, made these out of...'ink and necromancy', was it? What are they going to say?"

"Well, Bendy's probably been all over the studio by now. I'm sure they already know, so let's go find out!"

"It's not that simple! What if they go talking about this? It'll be all over the newspapers...they could cancel our cartoon! What would we do then, hm?"

Joey sighed, and leaned against the wall. Boris hesitated slightly, and then gently patted his arm.

"Look, Henry...I know you don't think highly of me when I do stuff like this...But just this once, let me handle this I've got everything under control, okay? If the animators don't like it, we'll just let them go. I'll make sure they won't tell anyone! How bad could it be?"

Henry looked nervously up at Boris, who gave him a small smile. 

"Alright fine...we'll deal with them for now."

\----- 

"Alright everyone, we've got a problem."

It had been almost two weeks since the existence of Bendy and Boris was revealed to the rest of the crew. Most had been cautiously nice to Bendy when he had run out that first day, but when Joey and Henry walked into the room with Boris behind them, a lot of the crew had almost ran out the door right then and there.

But now, Joey had called this "emergency meeting", requiring everyone in the building to come. Henry looked around the table they were all sitting at, and noted that only seeing six other faces around him, including Bendy and Boris, was probably not a good sign.

"Too many people have quit too soon over our friends here. They all... _promised_ to not tell anyone, so our show is safe on that end. But now we're short-handed. We can't keep making the episodes the way we are now. Can anyone think of anyone who'd be willing to help, given the circumstances?"

Silence. Everyome looked nervously around at each other, all except Bendy, whose horns were the only part visible. 

They all stared at one another, begging that the other person would have an answer. A little gloved hand waved in the air, and Bendy stood up on his chair. 

"Yes Bendy? Do you have an idea?"

"Well I was just thinkin'...couldn't you let Boris n' me work on stuff?"

"Absolutely not."

"Wha- why not?!" Bendy stomped on his chair, his little tail sticking up in the air. Henry was reminded of a cat he had once, and had to hide his smile behind his hand.

"Well...because...uh, well you see, the thing is...um.."

Henry would have loved to see Joey struggle for a little longer, but instead he stood up and quickly grabbed a pen and paper from his desk.

"Here. Bendy, Boris, I want you each to draw a storyboard. Do whatever you'd like with it."

Bendy lit up and immediately got to work, his little tongue sticking out as he concentrated on getting every detail absolutely perfect. Boris took his time, making sure that he could get any background details and the like completley accurately.

After five minutes, Bendy stood up on the table and shoved his paper at Henry's face. Taking it, he looked it over. 

"Er...well Bendy, you certainly did a very nice background but um...what is this?"

"Isn't it obvious??? That's me n' Boris having ice cream! Joey won't let me have any, but now we can in the cartoon! Right? I storyboarded it, now it's gotta be in the show!"

Henry stared at the piece of paper in his hand. It really was a magnificent background. The only problem was the characters. They looked like they had been drawn, if he was being completley honest with himself, by a five-year-old. Bendy obviously had no idea what ice cream actually looked like as well.

"So? Is it good or not?"

"Well...Bendy...it's uh...you er..."

Joey grabbed the paper from his hand and looked it over before Henry could protest. 

"Bendy, you don't even know how to draw yourself?"

Bendy's tail drooped a bit at this comment. He grabbed his paper back and stared at it. 

"'Course I know how to draw myself! There I am right there, see?"

"Bendy, we can't possibly use this!"

He looked up at Joey, and for a split second, Henry thought he might cry. Instead, he just crumpled up his paper and stomped back over to his seat. He sat with his arms folded and his tail sticking straight up, but once again, all anyone could see were his horns. 

Boris gently patted Bendy's shoulder, and then slowly handed his own paper to Henry.

Henry quickly decided that Boris could not draw that much better than Bendy. But there was one clear difference, the characters looked like they had come straight back from the finalized editing. It was exactly how Henry had pictured a toon would be able to draw themselves. 

Joey walked over and looked over Henry's shoulder. His face lit up, and he excitedly grabbed the paper from Henry.

"Boris, this is amazing! How did you do this?"

"Oh er...well I just... drew us. Look Bendy, we're playing outside!"

Bendy didn't look up from under the table, but Henry could see his tail droop again.

The other animators leaned forward for a glance at the paper, and Joey held it up in front of him like a proud parent putting their child's drawing on the fridge.

"Look, Boris, it's great and all but...we still cant use it."

Joey glared at him, but Bendy visibly perked up. 

"Why not?"

"Because Boris, look, it's the background see? You didn't even draw one."

"Well I um...can't. I don't know how."

At hearing this, Bendy leaped up on the table again.

"I can! You said it yourself Henry! I can do that! Boris and I can work together! We can do storyboards n' stuff! C'mon, please?"

Joey silently shook his head, but Henry ignored him.

"'Course you can, Bendy."

\----- 

"Henry. Hey Henry. Henry. _Henryyy!_ "

Henry sighed, and turned in his chair.

"What do you want, Bendy."

"When are you gonna come hang out wtih me n' Boris?"

"Bendy, I can't right now, okay? I'm trying to get these done for the next episode."

"That's what you said an entire _hour_ ago! Come ooon!"

Henry looked over at his desk. It had been an hour? It didn't feel like it was that long. He was so immersed in his work, he hadn't even noticed.

"Mr. Joey's gettin' real worried about you. He said you hadn't moved from your desk for two whole days! Why can't you let us help?"

"Look, these are my drawings, okay? I don't want anyone interfering."

"But you're not gonna get any episodes out like that! Just let me n' Boris do the-"

"No, you and Boris have been doing too much already.

"...What do y' mean?"

Henry hesitated. He wasn't sure how he could convey his thoughts to the small toon. Bendy tilted his head to the side, like he always did when he was curious about something.

"...you and Boris...You both do so much of the work now. And that's great, I'm not saying I don't appreciate it, but...It doesn't really feel like it's my project anymore."

Bendy looked down at his shoes, contemplating what he had just heard. Henry started to worry that maybe he had insulted the demon somehow, but when he looked back up, he was smiling.

"That's okay Henry! We can both take a break! Come on! Joey was shown' me n' Boris this cool new game with some of the old pencils and stuff in here!"

Bendy grabbed his hand, and dragged Henry along the hallway, and he had to admit. He was a bit happy to leave behind his desk for a while.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for all the positivity about the last chapter! The trailer for chapter 2 got me all hyped up again, so here's another chapter!!!

"I still can't believe you make them call you 'Mr. Joey'"

"Hey it could be worse. I could make them call me Mr Drew!"

"That's not better."

"Yeah whatever! You don't do stuff with them like I do so you can't judge me."

"You're always calling them your children, right? What kind of kid calls their dad Mr anything? It's not like they call me Mr-"

Joey and Henry came to an abrupt stop around the corner. The room they had just walked into was completley trashed, and Henry could see a tail poking out from behind a bookcase.

"...Bendy? What are you-"

His sentence was cut short by the little demon launching himself into his arms.

"HENRY! Henry, Henry, you have to help! Boris n' I can't find the round music disk thing!"

"The round music...wait, you mean a record?"

"Yeah!!! The round music disk thing! It's gone and we can't find it and, and,"

"Hey calm down," Joey walked over to where the two were standing and put his hand on the demon's shoulder. "It can't have gone far. Why would it be gone anyway?"

"I dunno! We were just goin' to get some ink from the machine and it wouldn't turn on! So we went to go look at th' ped'stal room and it was gone!!!"

"Hey, relax Bendy, we'll help you find it."

"You will Henry?! That's great! C'mon let's go tell Boris!"

Bendy jumped down from Henry's arms and ran down the hall. Joey and Henry quickly followed suit, ending up in the room that housed the six objects used to turn on the Ink Machine. 

Boris was crouching on the floor, carefully looking around the room. Bendy ran up to him and started tugging on his arm.

"Boris look it's Henry and Mr. Joey!" Henry gave Joey a pointed look, but he acted like he wasn't paying attention. "They said they're gonna help us find the round music disk thing!"

"It's called a _record_ , Bendy."

"Yeah, yeah, anyways I looked all over the projector room and it's not there!"

Bendy turned back towards the two animators, a nervous look on his face. 

"What if it broke? Could we fix it? Could we get a new one?"

Joey glanced over at Henry. His look seemed to say that the record breaking would not be a good thing for anyone

Boris easily picked up the panicky demon and gave him a reasurring hug. "Don't worry, we'll find it. We've got Henry and Joey helpin' us now!"

Bendy slowly calmed down, and hopped down from his friend's arms and ran out of the room again, leaving behind tiny inky footprints.

Boris sighed and sat down on the floor next to the pedestal that held a small doll of Bendy. Joey had said the doll was necessary so Bendy could "get the right shape". Henry wasn't sure what that meant and didn't intend to ask.

"So er...where did you two last see the um...round music disk thing...?"

Boris sinply shrugged, and began to look behind the pillars again. Henry shot Joey another look, but he was absentmindedly fidling with the wrench that made up another of the six pieces. 

"Alright well...Joey and I will just...go look in the um...recording studios? Yeah. Good luck finding it here, though...!"

Henry slowly started to back out of the room, and Joey quickly followed. For a split second, Henry thought he saw Boris' expression change. He turned and walked out of the room without a second thought. 

\----- 

For the next few hours, Bendy got the entire animation crew looking for the record. Henry wasn't sure how he did it, but Bendy had somehow made everyone else as frantic to find it as he was.

The recording studio was turned upside down, but with no results. The closests and work desks randomly strewn about the building were all thoroughly searched, but the no avail. More than once, Henry caught himself wondering why on Earth the animation studio seemed so much like a convulted maze, but quickly shoved the thoughts away in favor of thinking of a new place to search. 

By the fifth hour, there was no way to console the small demon, who was now hurriedly running through every room in the building. The floors and walls were covered in tiny footprints.

At one point, Henry sat down at his desk to think, hoping some idea would suddenly hit him. His gaze drifted to the sketches on his desk, and he began to wonder what it would be like if Bendy and Boris weren't helping them with the cartoon. There would be no way they could get episodes out on time, the show might even have been cancelled. 

The thought of Bendy and Boris having to stay in a shut down and desolate studio made him shudder, and so Henry stood up to continue searching. 

An out-of-place glint caught his eye, and Henry kneeled down by his desk to investigate.

Right there, sitting on the floor, was the missing record. It was in perfect condition, but that wasn't what Henry was concerned about. It seemed to have been very carefully placed there. As he picked it up, a piece of paper behind the record caught his attention.

"They're very dependent on the ink machine. I wonder what they would do if they couldn't get it to work?"

The paper was crumpled and torn, and seemed to have fallen out of someone's pocket. Possibly when they would have put the record there.

\----- 

After the record fiasco, Bendy seemed to be a bit on edge afterwards. Boris on the other hand, seemed to be more calm. Henry thought it almost seemed like he was thinking seriously about something, but he quickly dismissed this idea.

What was written on the paper was still nagging at him. He had never told Bendy about it, and he never asked Joey what he was thinking. He had simply handed it over to the ecstatic demon, and went along with his own life.

But still, it bothered him. One day, while he was sketching new episode ideas, he glanced over at Bendy who was sitting cross-legged nearby, working on his own sketches. 

"...Hey Bendy?"

Bendy looked up at once, a hint of shock on his face. Henry hardly ever talked when he was working.

"Yeah?"

"You know how to read, right?"

Bendy blinked in surprise. It was a very odd question to come out of the blue.

"Weeell..."

"You don't do you."

"Hey! I know how to read! I just...choose not to!"

"Mhm...so if I asked you to write a script without another animators help, would you?"

Bendy simply stared back at Henry, considering the question. He looked down at his own paper, and then at Henry's. 

"...nooo...?"

"Alright, well do you want me to teach you to write?"

\----- 

It was a slow process, teaching Bendy. The demon didn't seem to want to sit down and focus on something too long, despite how much he said he wanted to learn.

A few weeks of lessons later however, Bendy was writing all over his own papers. Sometimes it was nonsense, sometimes it was entire episode scripts. Henry found one of the latter papers a few days previously, and had immediately gotten to work storyboarding it. Bendy had found his sketches, and now left pieces of paper in spots he knew Henry would find them and no one else would.

Every day, Henry was surpised by something new that Bendy seemed to have learned. And one day, he caught him attempting to manipulate the ink in his arm. 

A few days later, he stumbled upon a conversation between the two toons that now were a familiar part of work in the studio.

"So...y' mean we can't get stuff like ice cream...cause Mr. Joey won' let us?"

"Well, he's never said it but...have you noticed he doesn't like it when we mention going outside the studio?"

"Why would we wan' to? It's nice here! Did ya see the cool new wood things with me on 'em?! They're so big!"

"...Yes well...What about that name you call him? 'Mr. Joey'? That...doesn't seem right."

"Aw c'mon Boris, it's what he _wants_ us to call 'im! What's wrong with that?"

"Nothing I just...I don't like it."

"Well what do _you_ call 'im then?"

"I don't call him anythin'. I just...wait until he leaves. Or just...not refer to his name. It just doesn't seem like something that we should do."

"..."

Henry leaned against the wall he was standing by, straining to catch the next bit of the conversation.

"...Hey Boris...?"

"Yeah Bendy?"

"Y'know what my number-one dream of all time is?"

"What would that be?"

"I wanna leave. And get some ice cream, and go to a cool park, like we always do on our cartoon! I don't care what Joey says, one day, we're gonna ignore 'im and do what _we_ want!"

"...That sounds nice, Bendy."

Henry walked silently back down the hall he had just come from. He knew something wasn't right with what Bendy just said, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

The next day Bendy finally figured out how to manipulate his ink. He now used his glove as a pen. The day after, a message appeared on the walls.

_Dreams come true..._

The other animators thought it was cute that Bendy wrote that. They liked that he believed in them making his dreams come true through their cartoon. But when Henry saw it that first time, a chill ran down his spine. 

\-----  
"...Henry...?"

Henry quickly looked up from his desk, slightly shocked to see Boris standing nervously in the hallway, the tips of his ears brushing the ceiling. 

"Y-yeah Boris? What's going on?"

"I just er...wanted to ask if um...maybe one day you could...bring some...ice cream...? To the studio? Bendy's always talkin' about how much he wants to try it after he saw it in the show and just...I thought he might like to...y'know..."

"Hey, it's not a problem. But I'd have to ask Joey first, I'm not sure if eating something that isn't ink is good for you guys."

Boris stiffened at the mention of Joey, but he quickly shrugged it off. 

"Yeah...yeah okay...I'll er...I'll go tell Bendy..."

Henry watched him walk away, a weird feeling in the pit of his stomach.

The next day, he approached Joey. He had just come out of the recording studio, having finished recording lines for a background character they were having in the next episode.

"Hey, Joey? Do you have a second?"

"Yeah sure."

"Would Bendy and Boris be able to eat anything that isn't ink?"

"What?" Joey glanced at Henry, a look of confusion on his face. "Of course not."

"Why?"

It took a minute for him to come up with an answer. Longer than Henry would have liked.

"...Because it's not good for them."

And with that, Joey simply turned and walked away. 

Henry's bad feeling persisted the next day, as he quietly pulled Boris aside and explained what Joey had said. The toon seemed dissapointed, but not surprised. 

"Hey, it's alright. We tried."

No matter how long he thought about it, Henry couldn't make sense of the mood that filled to studio the next few days. 

\----- 

"Joey! Hey, Joey wait up."

Henry caught up to his friend at the end of a hallway, just before he was about to disappear inside his office again. He hadn't been seen much in the last week, and it was getting a bit worrying.

"What? I have work to do."

"Yeah, so do I, now listen. I want you to go find Bendy and Boris and tell them to stop calling you 'Mr. Joey'. It's weird, and I don't think they like it."

"What makes you think that?"

The tone that Joey just used made Henry pause. He seemed suspicious, something that he wasn't expecting to hear from him.

"...I just don't think they look comfortable saying it. They're your kids, right? Make them call you 'Dad', or just 'Joey', I don't care, just not Mr. anything, alright?"

"...Fine."

Joey slammed the door to his office before Henry could get another word in. He turned to go back to his desk, and almost fell over when he saw Bendy standing right beside him.

"That was cool, what ya just did. Thanks."

And with that, the little toon turned and ran down the hall. 

The next day, Henry bought two popsicles before heading in to work.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Woah two chapter updates two days in a row what??? Enjoy!

_Hiya! I'm Bendy! I dunno why I'm talkin' to a book, but Henry said I should! So here I am, talkin' to a book!_

_I dunno why Henry said I should write stuff in this book? But he's nice. I like him. I can do what he says! Besides, writing is fun!_

_I think he's askin' me t' write in here so I don't write on the walls again. I don't think he liked what I wrote, but why not? All I said was dreams come true...Not like he could know the context._

_I like Henry, he's fun! He brought me n' Boris ice cream yesterday! I've wanted t' try that ever since I saw it in my cartoon! It was just as good as I thought it would be, but Henry said not t' tell Mr. Joey. He said that Mr. Joey wouldn' like it. He also said I shouldn't call 'im Mr. Joey. I want to, but I don't feel like I should._

Curious, the man turned the page. 

_Hiya book! Nice t' see ya again! Today I got to learn a game with my best friend Boris! It's this thing Henry taught us called "tik tak to"? It's fun, I always win! I think Boris is lettin' me win, but how could he do that?_

_Hiya book! Nice ta know you're ok! Mr. Joey almost found my hiding spot! I dunno why but...I don't want Mr. Joey readin' ya just yet. But...don't tell 'im I said that!_

_He wouldn't like it if he knew I said that._

The man laughed to himself. No, he thought. Mr. Joey wouldn't like that at all.

_Heya book! Boris said I shouldn't start every day writin' the same thing but I like sayin' hi to my book! Today I learned a new thing! Remember how we got those cool wood things with my face on em? That was a while ago! But today I figured out how t' move em even when I'm not there!_

_I like scarin' the animators with em! I got to prank Henry today by puttin' one next to his desk real quiet! He freaked out when he saw it, it was great!_

_I wanted t' try doin' it to Mr. Joey too, but Boris said I shouldn't._

Boris is very smart, he thought to himself. He turned the page. The handwriting was noticeably sloppier than the previous pages.

_Hiya book! Henry said he's gonna be gone for a few days. He calls it a "vacaytion"? I dunno where he's goin', but I hope he has fun!_

_I got spooked real bad today. I was takin' a nap cause Mr. Joey said I was bein' too loud. He said he couldn't concentrate on makin' sure we stick around on the ol' picture screen!_

_I was takin' that nap, and then I realized I could see Boris! He was practicin' his trumpet like he usually does. Mr. Joey doesn't get mad at him for playin' his trumpet. He says Boris needs to practice real hard for the show._

_I tried to say hi! But then everythin' was black. I thought I fell over, but then I could see one of th' animators playin' her violin! She was makin' real pretty music with it, an' I tried to clap but I think I fell over again._

_Boris woke me up right then. He said I wasn' sleepin' very good. Said I was tossin and turnin. I don't think I was there when he was playin' his trumpet. I don't think I was there to hear the pretty music._

Odd. Bendy never mentioned this to me. He turned the page.

_Sorry I can't say hiya, book. Mr. Joey says I gotta make this fast. I didn't tell him I was writin'. I think he might want t' read it._

_I don't want him t' read it._

_But I gotta tell ya! Today I figured out how t' look at people while I'm sleepin'! It's where all those wood me's are! I dunno why I can see outta them, but I only wanna ask Henry, and he's still on vacaytion._

_I got to hang out with everyone while I was still sleepin' though! I got t' see people drawin' stuff and playin' more music, and I wanted t' see what Mr. Joey was doin' but I don't think I should._

He turned the page. The handwriting was almost illegible, but he managed to make most of it out.

_Hiya book. I wish Henry was back. He said he's comin' back tomorrow, but I don't think he'll be here fast enough. I want him to help, not Mr. Joey. He wouldn't like it if I said that, so don't tell 'im._

_Boris said everything was gonna be ok. He said that everything would be just fine when Henry got back. He said Mr. Joey would be ok too. He said Mr. Joey would play with us again._

_I don't think he believed himself._

_I wish I could make it ok._

_Hiya book! Henry came back today! He's not actually comin' in until tomorrow though. Boris says we only need to make it a few more hours before we can see 'im again. I'm just happy I still have my book! And Boris is here too! So it can't be all bad!_

_I hope Mr. Joey doesn't find my book. I caught him snoopin' around the place when I was sleepin'. I think I spooked him, cause I got mad and knocked over the wood me._

The sound of uneven footsteps outisde the door drew his attention. Joey quickly put the small book back where he had found it, and quietly dashed to the next room and hid behind the wall.

Bendy walked carefully into the room, looking all around to make sure he was alone. Seeming satisfied, he ran over to where he had hid his book. He seemed excited, but he walked with a slight limp. 

Bendy pulled his book out of it's hiding spot, and flipped over to the first blank page. He held up his hand, let the ink drip for a bit, and began to write.

_Hiya book. Henry said he can't come in today. He said he got sick? I dunno how you can get sick but I hope he's not gone long. He's been gone a long time already. We need his help here in the studio._

_I think I'm gonna get a new hiding spot soon. I don' feel good keepin' my book in the same spot too long. I found a cool spot the other day, but I'm gonna ask Boris first._

Quickly snapping the book shut, Bendy glanced around the room again before crouching down and sliding his book under the nearest shelf. He thought it was a very good spot to hide his book. It was really hard to reach under there, but he could change his ink to make his arm smaller.

Bendy glanced at the exact spot where Joey was still hiding, but decided there was nothing wrong and skipped out of the room, quickly changing his skip to a normal walk when he stepped on his left foot. 

Joey sneaked around the corner and hastily grabbed the book. He scanned through the recent entry and smiled. The poor toon still thought Henry was coming back. He would be gone for at least a few more days. Joey wanted to see how far the little demon's optimism could be stretched.

\----- 

 

"Hey Boris? I don't feel so good about keepin' my book there."

Boris looked up at Bendy from where he had been reading. Joey had started bringing books for the toons to read, and Boris had quickly picked up the hobby.

"Why not?"

"I think someone was watchin' me write last time. I didn't feel like I was alone, I think I'm gonna go move it."

Bendy jumped down from his chair and walked to the door, but stopped in his tracks when he heard footsteps walking towards their door. Bendy quickly looked around the room, and hid behind Boris' chair. Boris quickly shifted his chair to completley shield Bendy right as the door to their room opened. 

"Hello Boris."

Boris simply nodded. Joey walked farther into the room, and glanced at the book the wolf was holding. 

"So, you seem to be enjoying the murder-mystery section quite a bit, hm?"

The taller toon didn't say anything. He simply pretended to keep reading. Bendy wanted to peek around the chair, to see what was going on rather than hear it, but a nagging feeling told him not to.

Joey smiled at Boris and walked over to a nearby table. He loudly placed an ink-stained book on top of it, glad to see it seemed to draw Boris' attention.

"If you see Bendy, be sure to tell him I found this. I'm pretty positive it belongs to him."

With that, Joey left the room, and Bendy slowly crawled out from behind the chair. His little gloved hands were shaking slightly, and he jumped up into Boris' lap.

"He found it. He found it! I knew he would but I didn't move it! I let him find it Boris! What if he read the whole thing? What if he doesn't let me write in it anymore? What if-"

"Hey, hey, calm down. None of that's gonna happen, Henry's comin' back tomorrow remember? He won't let that happen. I won't let that happen."

The small demon seemed to relax a bit, but he glanced nervously at the small book that was on the table. He couldn't imagine what might happen if Joey had read that and Henry _wwasn't_ coming back soon. He sighed a breath of relief, and relaxed against his best friend.

\----- 

Bendy opened his eyes. He wasn't in the room with Boris anymore. He was in a hallway, a long dark hallway. That didn't seem to be unusual, there were a lot of oddly placed long dark hallways in the studio. Focusing on the different places he knew he could go to, he picked the voice recording studio and felt himself drift over there.

Suddenly, he was staring at one of the voice actors, Tim, who was famous in the studio for providing many different background voices in the cartoon for as long as anyone could remember. Bendy wanted to wave, but remembered his wooden arms couldn't move, and decided to move on.

The next room he tried was the projector room. It was where the animators watched the cartoon before sending it off to be shown on TV. There was no one here, but something odd caught Bendy's eye. 

The light by the ink pressure machine was off. 

_That's strange,_ he thought. _The ink pressure's always on. How else is the machine supposed to work?_

A horrible feeling crept in, and Bendy quickly went to look through the cardboard eyes of the Bendy in the Ink Machine Room. He tried to look, but he couldn't see anything. He tried again. And again. There was nothing, just the pitch blackness of the space in between each board.

Panic began to set in. Had someone moved the standee? Had someone moved it...on _purpose?_ Who would do that? Everyone knew not to move them, and no one knew he could see through them except Boris. 

No...that part wasn't entirely true. Joey had read his book. Bendy raced through the rest of the stands, trying desperately to find any trace of Joey, when a sudden jab on his cheek brought him back to Boris' side. 

"Hey buddy, you doin' alright? Were you lookin' around again? Did ya see somethin'...bad?"

Bendy quickly sat up. Boris had moved him to another chair in the room. He quickly ran over to the table, ignoring the pain in his leg, and grabbed his book.

"He knows, Boris! He knows I can see through the wood me's! He took away the one in the Ink Machine Room! He turned off the ink pressure, we gotta go fix it!"

"Now why on Earth would I do such a thing?"

Both toons froze, and slowly turned towards the door. Joey was casually leaning against the doorframe, but his smile suggested he wasn't there for idle chitchat. 

"You accuse me of moving your precious little stands? I wouldn't _dream_ of it. Why would I move something you always seem to want in the exact same spots?"

Bendy hid behind his friend in fright, but Boris stood up straight, glaring at the animator below him. His tall ears hit the ceiling. Joey looked up, not seeming to be afraid of the tall wolf before him.

"...I think you should leave, Joey."

Joey was slightly taken aback. Boris usually avoided anything that may cause him to have to speak his name. His smile quickly returned, however. 

"That's Mr. Joey to you. At least your little friend here seemed to get that right in his adorable little book."

Bendy poked his head out from behind Boris. He _had_ read his book. He looked down at his hand, still gripping the small journal, and hugged it to his chest. 

"You need to leave."

"Now why would I do that? I just came to say that we seem to be...running out of ink. We may not be able to turn the machine on for a while. So you best be careful, and not say, twist an ankle or anything."

Bendy winced. Joey knew full well he hadn't accidentally tripped.

Boris growled, and both Joey and Bendy looked nervously up at him. Bendy couldn't remember the last time his friend was mad.

"I _said,_ you need to _leave_." 

Boris stomped over to the door, and Joey hastily backed up. Joey being scared was even rarer than Boris being mad, and Bendy curiously looked on. Boris shoved Joey even farther outside, slamming him into the opposite wall before slamming the door in his face. 

Bendy looked up at his friend. The wolf sighed, and walked back over to his chair. Bendy followed, and hopped onto his lap.

"...Mr. Joey's not gonna like what you did."

"Who cares what he likes. He won't bother us anymore. If he won't turn on the machine, we'll just have to stay in here until Henry comes back."

Bendy curled up, almost like a cat, and started to doze off again.

"...I hope he comes back soon...I don't think m-...Joey...is gonna let me keep my wood me's..."


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry will probably never take another vacation in his entire life.

_I can't believe this...I leave them alone for one week..._

Henry knew there was something wrong the second he stepped back inside the studio. There was no one to be seen. Ink dripped from backed up pipes on the ceiling. Bendy hadn't run up to greet him like he always did. 

Henry wandered around to studio, wondering where everyone was. There should have been _someone_ there, they would have been behind without him there. It took a lot of convincing to get him to take a vacation for the first time in years, and coming back to this sort of thing was exactly why he didn't. 

Eventually, Henry found himself at his desk. It wasn't until he saw the cardboard Bendy that he always kept nearby that Henry realized he hadn't seen a single one. They were usually littered all over the studio, and now this one seemed to be the only one left. 

Suddenly, Henry stepped back. He could have sworn he saw the stand...move? No, that's not possible. 

He was about to sit down and start some sketches to take his mind off of things when he heard footsteps, running towards his desk. He barely had time to stand up when Boris quickly grabbed his arm and starting dragging him around the studio. 

Henry couldn't get a single word in, and soon he found himself thrown into the room that they had given the toons to use as a bedroom. It was a mess, it looked like they hadn't left in days. A cardboard Bendy was facedown on the floor. 

Boris held Henry at arms length for a few moments. He was about to ask what was going on when Boris suddenly gave him a big bear hug. Henry couldn't think of any time he had done this before, and hesitated a moment before returning the hug. 

"Boris, what are you-"

"Where were you?! You've been gone days longer than you said you would...Joey's been having a field day without you t' hang around!"

"Wha-, Boris I told Joey I'd be gone a week?"

"He said you'd be gone three days! He kept comin' up with excuses for why ya weren't here yet!"

"Wait...three _days?!_ I told him...Wait...Where's Bendy?"

Boris hesitated, before slowly crossing the room and returning with a small bucket filled with ink.

"...Don't tell me he's..."

Boris sighed. "You've been gone a long time Henry."

"Wait no this can't...what happened?!"

\----- 

"Boooriiiis, I'm booored"

"We have giant stacks of books, Bendy. 'Sides, we swore we weren't comin' out 'till Henry got here, remember?"

"Yeah I know...but that was before I was bored."

"Well...why not try lookin' through your wood you's?"

"Joey took all of 'em, now sleepin' is boring tooooo...."

Boris set down the book he was reading. It was the fifth day since Henry had left, and the first after he had kicked Joey out of their room. He had hoped that they would be able to avoid any other problems by hiding out in here, but it turns out Bendy did not take kindly to being shut in the same room all day.

"Well...there were still a few left last time ya checked, right?"

"Yeah...one by Henry's desk, one in that hallway next to th' projector room aaand...one just. Randomly sittin' in that hallway."

"Why not see which ones are still there?"

"...But what if there aren't any? I don't wanna know what happens if there aren't any to look through..."

"Joey had to have put them somewhere, right? Maybe you'll see where he's takin' them?"

"...Yeah...Okay..."

The little demon curled up in his chair and let his thoughts drift away. After a minute, he opened his eyes and saw Henry's desk in front of him, just as disorganised as ever.

Bendy tried to look through the other cutouts, but for some reason it wouldn't work. He couldn't move. Maybe this was the last one left?

Suddenly, Joey popped into his field of vision. He simply smiled at the standee, before dissapearing out of sight again. Curious, Bendy tried to move again. Suddenly, he could see the inside of Joey's office. Bendy immediately wish he hadn't, and tried to go back.

He was in the recording studio. Someone was doing lines for a new character they were introducing, a small fluffly sheep that didn't have a solid name yet. 

Bendy excitedly tried to switch to more views, but it appeared that those three were the only spots left. Joey had moved his boards again, and kept them as far from their room as possible. 

Bendy slowly sat up. It was always disorienting switching from wood to ink. 

"So? What'd you see?"

"Boris, we gotta go to the recording studio."

"Why? What's goin' on?"

"I have an idea."

\----- 

The next day, it was just like Bendy predicted. Joey had taken the stands back, all except the one at Henry's desk which seemed to be stubbornly refusing to move.

The stand from the recording studio now stood in their room. Bendy found it a bit odd to see a bigger version of himself in his room all the time, but he quickly became occustomed to it. 

Bendy's idea was to simply stay near Henry's desk as much as he could. Their room was far enough from the entrance that they wouldn't be able to hear the door open. Bendy figured that his desk would be the first spot Henry would be when he came back, and so that's where Bendy spent his time. 

Boris was getting a bit worried that Bendy spent much more time alseep than awake now, but if it helped his cabin fever, he was willing to let him go on with his plan.

Joey showed up a few hours later, asking where the missing stand was. He was quickly shown the door, and Boris had to spend the next few minutes wiping small smears of blood off the door. 

\----- 

"How're ya feelin' buddy?"

Bendy was lying on the table, a few ink-stained pillows and blankets making the spot more comfortable. Bendy had woken up the previous day feeling sick. Boris decided it was a good idea to take a day off from checking the desk. 

"...I dunno...I feel funny. I don' like it."

"Me neither. Try to relax, 'kay?"

"...mmkay..."

Bendy looked over at the chair nearby. His journal was still there, exactly where he had put it that first day they decided to stay in. He was glad that Boris took him seriously when he asked him not to move it. He didn't like it when anyone else touched his book anymore, not even Boris.

Taking a few minutes to get the energy, Bendy slowly sat up and reached over to pick up his book. He was about to lay down again when he suddenly yelped in pain.

He could have hugged Boris for acting so fast, if his hands worked. Boris grabbed a spare blanket, snatched the book from Bendy, and wrapped it up before throwing it halfway across the room. 

Bendy looked down at his gloves. The ink was all smudged, and smeared together. 

"...Boris? Boris I...I can't feel my hands Boris I..."

"Hey, hey calm down, it's okay, I'm here."

"...I think Joey did somethin' to my book..."

"...I was thinkin' the same thing..."

\----- 

Bendy didn't get better. Without being able to get ink from the machine, his condition got worse with every passing hour. Eventually, Boris had to resort to putting pillows inside the bucket for Bendy, so that when the time came he'd be able to quickly get ink to him. 

Bendy was still conscious, but just barely. It was almost like a perpetual sleep, with the cardboard cutout being their only way to communicate. 

Boris sat down as he explained this to Henry, and more than once, he thought he saw the cardboard cutout on the floor shift position. 

"...Alright then. I'll go turn on that Ink Machine, and then we can all go yell at Joey together. How's that sound."

Without waiting for an answer, Henry stomped out of the room and straight to the Ink Pressure Machine. He punched the button to turn it on, and made sure it was working properly before leaving. 

Having been turned off for so long, the Ink Machine made a lot of noise as it started up again. Henry guarded Boris as he carried the small bucket of ink through the many hallways towards the Ink Machine Room. 

Just as they were about to enter, Henry looked down the hallway and quickly ducked as a piece of old floorboard hit the spot his head waa a moment before. 

"You've made a huge mistake Henry! You shouldn't have turned it on, Henry!"

"Joey what the h-"

His sentence waa stopped by the bucket being thrown into his arms. He couldn't say anything as he watched Boris stomp towards the spot Joey was standing. He hastily backed up. Henry couldn't recall his friend being this frightened before. 

Boris calmly picked him up. Joey resisted, but quickly stopped when he hit the wall. 

Henry stared on in shock. Boris walked back over and grabbed the bucket, hurrying over to the Ink Machine and gently setting it down under it. 

Henry hurriedly ran over and flipped the switch. Ink started pouring out, and soon he could see a little hand rising out of the small puddle they had created. 

It took a few minutes, but soon Bendy had been completley restored. He refused to leave Henry's side, constantly talking about what had happened, little inky tears pricking the sides of his eyes. 

\----- 

"Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

Joey stared silently ahead. Henry, Boris, and Bendy and picked him up from the pool of ink he had been laying in and let him regain consciousness in his office. But now they wanted answers. 

"Hm...Nope, I don't think so. Can I go now?"

"...I can't believe you. I thought you cared about them, Joey. You called them your kids. Who would ever do this to their own children?"

"Hey, you laughed at me the first time I said that! You can't-!"

"I didn't laugh!"

"We're not your kids!"

"Why're you so rude, huh?"

Everyone was shouting at once, until it was impossible to tell what anyone was saying. The conversation continued on like this for a few more minutes until it looked like Henry was about to punch something. 

Unfortunately, Bendy beat him to it. He jumped across to Joey's desk, and starting beating him with a gloved fist.

"That's for my book! That's for lying about Henry! That's for taking my wood me's!"

He probably would have continued on like that for a while if Boris and Henry hadn't drug him back to his seat. He sat with his arms folded, glaring at Joey.

"...Look, Joey, I just want an honest answer here. Why'd you do it?"

Joey looked up at Henry, and for a second he thought he could see a bit of his old friend in his eyes before it was replaced by something hard, cold, unnatural.

"They can't be real, Henry! They're cartoons made out of ink! I don't know what I was thinking...I have to find out how it works! How I can stop it if something goes wrong!"

"Nothing was going wrong until you started acting like a lunatic! There's no going back now! You're never fully getting back our trust, you know that right?"

Joey looked down, and for the first time he looked apologetic. He looked back up, with tears in his eyes.

"...I don't know what's wrong with me. I would never do this...I...I'm sorry I don't...I don't know what's going on..."

Henry didn't believe him. What kind of apology was "I didn't know what i was doing?"

And then suddenly it hit him. He didn't really know. He had slowly been getting more and more reclusive, slowly becoming more rude instead of paternal to his creations, and the change wasn't obvious until Henry had stepped back. 

"...Alright, where's your book."

"My...book?"

"Your journal, your notebook whatever you call it. Where is it."

"...In that drawer."

Henry walked over to Joey's desk and pulled out a small book. "The Illusion Of Living Pt. 2" was written on the cover in gold letters.

Henry set it on the desk and flipped it open. Boris and Bendy came and stood beside him. He quickly flipped through the pages. The change was even more obvious here. The handwriting slowly became sloppier until it was almost illegible. 

Near the end, Henry finally found what he was looking for. A page in the back that detailed exactly how Joey had created the toons that stood before them. 

"...Dangit Joey..."


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The crew perform a demonic ritual to banish Joey to the spirit realm haha I'm just kidding Joey will Die

"Alright Joey let me get this straight. You prepared for and performed a demonic ritual and sacrifice."

"Yeah."

"You got multiple people helping you! You cleaned out the entire basement!"

"Uh-huh."

"And not once did you think 'Hey, maybe I should read this ominous list of warnings in the back'?"

"Well in the moment I uh..."

Henry sighed. Leave it to Joey to skip important stuff to get to the exciting part. 

Henry, Joey, Bendy, and Boris had relocated to the basement. The ever-lit candles provided the only illumination against the gloom, but they didn't help alleviate the foreboding atmosphere. 

Henry had read through Joey's book detailing how he had created the two ink toons standing before them. Unfortunately, Joey hadn't which had led to some...unforseen consequences. 

Well, not unforseen if you had read the warnings. 

"Okay, go stand in the middle of the circle."

"What? Why? That's-"

"No buts, in the circle. Now."

Joey grumbled and slowly walked into the middle of the pentagram drawn on the floor. Bendy and Boris glared at him, and Boris walked over to Henry, peering over his shoulder.

"Is doing this really gonna make him stop bein' so rude?"

"Well it's not actually his fault. See look, you can't use one of your own items for the creation ritual. It..."

Henry looked up. 

"Okay, where did they go?!"

Joey was gone, and so was Bendy. Exchanging a glace, Henry and Boris ran up the stairs as fast as they could. 

Boris went left, Henry went right. He ran all over the studio, looking for any sign of his friend when suddenly he heard shouting. 

"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

Henry hastily ran towards the sound. Joey was standing alone, in front of the door to the supplies closet. Boris was fuming.

"You locked him in?! Why on Earth would you do that?!?"

"I wanted to see if he could figure out how to get out, obviously."

"Bendy hates small dark spaces! Unlock this door, or you're going in next!"

Henry had never seen Boris so mad. Joey slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. Hands shaking, he unlocked the door. 

Boris threw it open and peered inside. There was no sign of the little demon until they heard sniffling. 

"...Bendy?"

Bendy looked up, his white face contrasting clearly against the darkness. He leaped forward into Boris' arms, tears spilling out of his eyes.

"He locked me in there Bo! He shoved me in it was...it..."

Boris looked at Henry. 

"Let's get your ritual over with."

\----- 

After the excitement, everyone was on edge. Boris never took his eyes off Joey for a second. Bendy was curled up next to Henry, who was reading through the book that lay before him.

"...Alright, I think I got it."

Everyone crowded around Henry, as he flipped through the book. 

"Joey, because he didn't read the warnings, didn't know that you can't use one of your own items. All of the other objects in the break room, the record, the plush, the ink bottle, they all belonged to previous workers. None of them are here now, and for good reason."

"Each object brings terrible luck to the person it belonged to. Remember Jack? He used to do voices for Bendy. That's his record in the break room. Haven't heard a word from the guy since."

"Dave used to be one of our best storyboarders. Now he can't even get near a pen. That was his ink bottle, and now he can't get near the stuff."

Henry held up a book. "The Illusion of Living was Joey's clever name for his journal. It began when he started working here and had almost every detail you can think of about the studio. Now he's trying to get as many details on you two."

Bendy and Boris glanced uneasily at each other. There was only so much you can get from the surface. If they had left Joey any longer...there was no telling what he could have done. 

Henry continued.

"...So now we have to er...perform a second ritual that will partially cancel out the first. Transfer the energy to a different object that will serve the same purpose. There's only one problem which is, I can't think of anything we have that can detail so much history of the studio."

"Well, what does it need ta be? Could it be like...a...a..."

Bendy stopped mid-sentence. He suddenly stood up and rushed out of the room. He returned a moment later witha familiar piece of old floorboard. 

"Please don't tell me that's..."

"It's th' piece of th' floor Joey threw at ya! It's suuuper old, and people walk there a lot. Would this work?"

Henry thought for a moment. It...it just might work. If there was anything that could tell the history of the studio, it would be a piece of the studio itself. 

Bendy excitedly handed the board to Henry before walking back over to Boris. 

"Nice thinkin', Bendy!"

"Ahehe...it was nothin'!"

"Alright you two. Joey, are you ready?"

Joey looked at Henry in silence, his expression unreadable. He nodded.

"...Alright then. In the circle you go."

Joey slowly entered the pentagram, his old journal clasped tightly in his hand. 

Henry grabbed Boris' hand. Boris' grabbed Bendy's hand. Soon they were all standing in a circle around Joey.

Instantly, the feeling in the room shifted. It was noticeably colder, and Henry saw Bendy shiver.

Ignoring the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, Henry began to read the words written on the page of the book that was now floating before him. 

As he got to the end, the candles went out.

Bendy squealed, and Henry felt his grip on his own hand tighten. They heard a crash, and then the candles lit themselves. 

Joey was collapsed on the ground, the journal now resting on his chest and covered in ink.

Henry let go of Boris and threw the old book across the room, then quickly wiping his hand on his shirt. Whatever that was, it wasn't ink.

Clasping hands with Boris again, he began to read the next part of the page. The old floorboard now replaced the journal. 

Once again, they were plunged into sudden darkness. 

Bendy almost screamed. Then just as soon as it started, the lights were back on. The room seemed to be warming back up. The journal Henry had been reading from fell to the floor. 

Henry kneeled down on the ground and poked Joey. Bendy kicked him, before Boris held him back.

"Joey? Hey Joooeyyy...you up?"

Slowly, he began to stir. Joey sat up, looking around in confusion.

"...Did...did it work?"

"I think so. Wanna test it out?"

\----- 

The small group had moved to the pedestal room. It was as old and rickety as ever, but now with one key ddifference. 

The piece of the floorboards now rested where the journal once stood, floating gently beside the other pieces that made up the key to turning on the Ink Machine. The picture above it had also changed. 

"You guys ready to see if this works?"

They nodded. Henry crossed the room, and flipped the switch. 

The sound of ink filling the pipes filled the room. They all rushed out the door and headed straight for the Ink Machine Room. 

A small, pleasant flow of ink was dripping from the machine. Bendy ran towards it, laughing. Boris and Henry smiled, watching the little demon happily play in the now steadily growing ink puddle. 

"It worked!!! It worked! And now Joey won' be so mean and my idea helped!"

"It sure did, buddy! Save some 'a that ink for me, will ya?"

Henry hung back while Boris and Bendy played together in the puddle. He grabbed Joey's shoulder, and led him slowly out to the hallway.

"Y'know, you've been awfully quiet."

Joey was flipping through his second journal. He looked up at Henry, concern written on his face. 

"Was my handwriting always this bad?"

Henry laughed, clapping Joey on the back. "Nice to have you back, pal."

\----- 

It was an interesting next few days. After Joey jad properly apologized, the tension around the studio slowly lifted. He had spent the first few hours holed up in his office. 

Henry had finally coaxed him out, and they had enjoyed an awkward ice cream break, joined by Bendy and Boris. 

In the days following, Joey was seen more and more outside of his office. It had been like his home the past week, and it pleased Henry to see him attempting to fix his relationship with the other animators. 

Bendy was quick to forgive him, considering all he'd been through. It only took three days and promises of endless treats whenever he wanted for him to finally acknowledge that Joey was sincere. 

Boris however, took much longer. He was determined not to let anything bad happen to Bendy ever again. Only when Henry promised he would never take another vacation in his life did Boris begin to relax.

\----- 

_Hiya book! I know you're not my book, but Henry got me a new one! My old one got kinda...ruined...but that's okay! This book is sooo much bigger an' cooler!_

_Joey's been keepin' his promise about my snacks! Now I've got a whole stash of 'em! Boris n' I are thinkin' of having a party when our stash gets big enough!_

_Henry's still real worried 'bout Joey though. He said nothin' felt right. He said he'd still keep an eye on 'im, which I guess is nice. I just don't wanna be locked in another closet._

Bendy very gently set his book on top of the bookcase that had recently been added to their room. After the mess with Joey, he had partially apoligized by getting all-new and expensive furniture for them. 

Boris was sitting nearby on their new rocking chair. He hadn't moved since they got it, along with an all new shipment of books. Most were murder-mysteries, which Boris seemed happy about.

Bendy hopped down from the table he had been standing on to reach the bookcase, and sat down next to Boris. He didn't seem to notice until Bendy waved his hand in front of the pages. 

"Yes, Bendy?"

"I'm bored."

"You say that every day, Bendy."

"Yeah I know, but I'm booored."

"Well uh...why not go bother Henry?"

"I can't, he's doin' the script I left for 'im."

"Oh?" Boris looked at Bendy, curious. "That's never stopped ya before."

"Yeah but..." Bendy looked down at his shoes. "...I...I really wanna see this new episode."

"Oh really then. What's it about?"

"Weeell...you n' me get t' go to a haunted house! And then we get to punch ghosts in the face! And there uh...maaay be a secret super-cool mysterious ritual involved to kick the ghosts outta the house..."

Boris set down his book. "You're very good at making episodes, Bendy."

Bendy looked up in surprise. "Really? Ya think so?"

"Yup, an' I bet Joey's gonna love having to work on that one."

Bendy laughed, and curled up on his best friend's lap.

"...I'm really happy you're okay Boris..."

"Me too Bendy...me too..."

\----- 

"B...Boris? Is that you?"

Bendy was alone in the studio. The hallways were dark. Nothing was where it was supposed to be. 

He had been exploring when he had found something...odd. 

It was Boris. He was strapped to a table. Bendy didn't want to look at the rest.

"Boris? Buddy you...you gotta get up...Boris?"

"It really is such a shame you couldn't save him."

Bendy spun around in terror. Standing behind him was Joey, looking as menacing as ever. 

"Such a shame...that the same will happen to you."

Bendy back away in terror. Where was Henry? He said he wouldn't leave again!

Joey was advancing, almost reaching him and then-

"Bendy! Bendy, wake up!"

Bendy sat up with a start. Bookcase...rocking chair...Boris...

"Boris!" Bendy spun around. There he was, completley healthy, albeit a bit concerned. 

Bendy jumped up and hugged his friend. Boris stepped back in shock, before slowly returning it. 

"Did..did ya have a bad dream?"

Bendy nodded. 

"...Was...Was I in it?"

Bendy nodded. 

"Was I...okay...?"

Bendy shook his head.

"Oh, Bendy..."

Boris knelt down and gave his friend the biggest hug je could muster. He felt small inky tears spill onto his back. 

The door opened. 

"Hey, Boris? We gotta record you playing your...your uh..."

Joey looked at the two in shock. Bendy quickly wiped his face, and Boris was glaring at Joey.

"I'll u-uh...I'll...come back later..."

Henry felt a hand tap his shoulder.

"Henry, I think you should go tell them about the recording session."

"What? Didn't you just do that?"

"I don't know how but...I think they hate me even more than they did before."

\----- 

Henry stared at the board, amazed. Bendy had just taken two of his checkers in one jump. He slowly reached out a hand to grab a checker, when a blast of ink hit him in the face. 

"Too slow! Bendy, your turn."

"What? Boris that's not fair! My hand was on the chip!"

"You snooze you lose, buddy! Go ahead, Bendy."

Bendy quickly picked up a chip and hopped over two more of Henry's. 

"Ha! Let's see ya try t' beat me now!"

Joey marked two more tallies on his paper. "He's right, Henry. You're behind by ten points now!" He grabbed two chips of Henry's color from the box and randomly placed them on the board. 

Joey had brought the checkerboard to the studio the previous day, and Bendy had convinced Henry to play with him. The little demon had decided to invent his own rules, involving a water gun, a giant stack of chips, and a large bowl of ice cream. 

"You better hurry up Henry! You only got two more minutes, the ice cream's almost all melted up!"

"Alright, alright, don't rush me Boris."

"But that's my whole job!"

Henry sighed. If he could just take the ever-growing stack of chips Bendy had, he would be back in the game. He placed his hand on a chip, and hopped it around the board. 

Bendy stared at the board. Henry had just taken his best tower! And two other chips too! How was this possible!

"Hey Joey! What's th' score?"

Joey glanced at his notepad. "Er...37-34, Bendy in the lead."

Bendy looked back at the board. If he could stall long enough to let the ice cream finish melting, yet finish fast enough to not get sprayed in the face, he could pull ahead even farther and even start building a new tower!

He grabbed a chip, and was just about to start hopping it when a blast of ink hit his hand. 

"Time's up Bendy! Henry, your turn!"

"Aw c'mon! I was just about t-"

"No arguing with the person who's got th' spray gun!"

Bendy grumbled and looked on as Henry secured more of his chips, passing him just as the ice cream completley melted.

"39-37, Henry is the winner!"

Boris threw confetti over Henry, who was acting as though waving to a cheering crowd. There may have been no crowd, and the confetti may have been torn up pieces of paper, but everyone enjoyed it the same.

Everyone except for Bendy, who pouted as Henry was awarded the ice-cream-soup as a prize. He was just about to go back to his room when Henry handed him the bowl. 

"I think the rules actually state that prize goes to the player with the tallest tower."

Bendy smiled, and eagerly grabbed the bowl. Boris hopped down from table he had been sitting on. 

"It's me n' Joey next! Think you can beat me?"

"Of course I can! As long as Henry doesn't cheat with keeping score again!"

"Hey, that was _one time._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, that's it! Thank you all so much for sticking with me through this silly little fic! I'm very proud of it, and I hope you all enjoyed! I may write more one day, who knows? But for now this is it! Thanks again for reading!


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